Is Jesus Really the Reason for the Season ?

First of all, I want to wish everyone a warm Merry Christmas and blessings for the new year coming. With that said, I am also acutely aware that the Christmas holidays are not so merry for a lot of people. Which brings me to share a story with you that will open a door and be a spark of hope to someone in need.  It is a story about an experience that a good friend of mine had. As I think about it— well, let’s let him tell it as he told me, in his own words.

“Several decades ago, a few days before Christmas, I was doing my usual afternoon chores taking care of some livestock on the ranch. Along about dark I began to feel rather ill with a headache and just that ol’ general ‘I don’t feel so good’ feeling. It wasn’t long before this became so serious I could no longer continue my chores and retired to the couch in the house. It is rather difficult to accurately describe the pallor that came over me as I lay there. For several hours movement was extremely sluggish and sometimes impossible. My arms from the elbows to the tips of my fingers were ice cold. My legs from the knees to the bottom of my soles were also cold as ice. My thought process refused to function in any rational manner. Speech was nearly impossible. As I lay there trying to ‘figure out’ what was going wrong, my brain refusing to process, for whatever reason the word ‘Jesus’ came to mind and I managed to speak that word. Over and over I would say ‘Jesus’. Not in a cursing or profane way, just speaking that name. As I continued to speak the name of Jesus my symptoms began to abate. I began to think in a more coherent manner, my arms and legs began to return to normal temps and that deathly pallor began to lift. Eventually I was feeling rather normal but very rung out from the experience and wanting to sleep more than anything else. After a couple hours of sleep I awoke hungry and none the worse for wear. I am convinced that the Spirit of Death paid me a visit that afternoon so long ago and were it not for the name of Jesus it might have prevailed.”

I know this may seem a tall tale, but I have never known my friend to be untruthful. Needless to say, the story of this man’s trial has really caused me to think. Is ‘Jesus is the reason for the season’ just a trite little phrase. Or—-

May the reality of who He is be yours this Christmas and in the year to come. And may you be able to see your horse through the eye of Truth.
Blessings and Happy Trails,
Charley